• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:51
CEST 07:51
KST 14:51
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash8[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy16ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research8Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool49Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Season 4 announced for March-April StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Behind the scenes footage of ASL21 Group E A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group F [ASL21] Ro24 Group E Azhi's Colosseum - Foreign KCM 🌍 Weekly Foreign Showmatches
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
Canadian Politics Mega-thread US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 8996 users

Greatest Players of All Time: Part 1 - Page 30

Forum Index > SC2 General
752 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 28 29 30 31 32 38 Next All
Elentos
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
55568 Posts
April 13 2015 21:29 GMT
#581
On April 14 2015 06:18 Zealously wrote:
Indeed, in one of the cases other players saw the innovations and followed suit, in the other they tried but found themselves utterly unable

The interesting thing throughout that is, however, that both of them ended up far above all other players of their race, despite this distinctly different type of innovation.
Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes.
Elentos
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
55568 Posts
April 13 2015 21:30 GMT
#582
On April 14 2015 06:28 Peanutbutter717 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 12 2015 03:36 Zealously wrote:
CAN YOU GUESS THE PLAYERS THAT WILL BE IN PART 2?

I'll buy you 3 months of TL+ if you guess right, 6 if you get the order right


Hmm... 1 of each race

DRG, Squirtle, Bomber

DRG is #14, plz :O
Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes.
The_Red_Viper
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
19533 Posts
April 13 2015 21:31 GMT
#583
This "innovation" aspect is completely ridiculous tbh.
Noone really knows if that player really thought about that innovation and was the first one to use it.
It could be a teammate did it in the teamhouse, or a coach thought of it, or he saw it randomly on the ladder.
"innovation" is basically meaningless, what matters is how successful you can use said strategy.
And even if you don't agree with that premise, in a game which isn't "figured out" yet it is a lot easier to innovate regardless.
IU | Sohyang || There is no God and we are his prophets | For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.” | Ignorance is the parent of fear |
TheJestOne
Profile Joined March 2013
United States11 Posts
April 13 2015 21:42 GMT
#584
10 soulkey
9 taeja
8 mc
7 rain
6 zest
5 mma
4 polt
3 innovation
2 nestea
1 mvp
Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me.
cheekymonkey
Profile Joined January 2014
France1387 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-13 21:44:28
April 13 2015 21:42 GMT
#585
On April 14 2015 06:31 The_Red_Viper wrote:
This "innovation" aspect is completely ridiculous tbh.
Noone really knows if that player really thought about that innovation and was the first one to use it.
It could be a teammate did it in the teamhouse, or a coach thought of it, or he saw it randomly on the ladder.
"innovation" is basically meaningless, what matters is how successful you can use said strategy.
And even if you don't agree with that premise, in a game which isn't "figured out" yet it is a lot easier to innovate regardless.


That's utterly unreasonable. When a player is pioneering new strategies and ideas over and over again in tournaments over a long period of time and others following up, days, weeks or months after until it becomes standard is not a coincidence. And while new ideas not always have to be original, to bring them refined to the table takes a careful consideration of the actual potential. Great innovative players are not only characterized by originality, but also the ability to recognize the potential of an unrefined idea others would not.
Darkhorse
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States23455 Posts
April 13 2015 22:59 GMT
#586
On April 14 2015 05:48 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 14 2015 03:50 Darkhorse wrote:
Mvp
Life
MC
Taeja
Polt
MMA
Nestea
Zest
Inno
Parting


This prediction is extremely reasonable except...

Show nested quote +
On April 12 2015 04:31 Zealously wrote:
On April 12 2015 04:30 KalWarkov wrote:
i have a problem. i have 12 players left for 10 spots :O

Zest
Nestea
Innovation
sOs
Bomber
Taeja
Polt
Parting
MMA
MC
Life
MVP


Hint: three of those aren't in the Top 10

Mine isn't really a prediction tbh because I know the order and who is actually on the list. This was just my opinion
WriterRecently Necro'd (?)
F0rlorn
Profile Joined June 2012
Canada74 Posts
April 14 2015 00:12 GMT
#587
On April 14 2015 01:36 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
Greatest Canadian Players Of All Time

1. HuK
2. Scarlett
3. Testie

Combatex vs parting never forget
stuchiu
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
April 14 2015 00:15 GMT
#588
I wrote more on the criteria and how I made this list here: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/482944-the-process-of-creating-the-top-15-greatest-list

If you read it you should be able to work backwards and recreate what I did.
Moderator
cheekymonkey
Profile Joined January 2014
France1387 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-14 00:40:46
April 14 2015 00:40 GMT
#589
Okay, seeing as sOs is not on this list, i will try again.

Stephano
Innovation
Polt
Bomber
Parting

Nestea
MMA
MC
Life
Mvp
elwoodng
Profile Joined August 2011
Singapore438 Posts
April 14 2015 02:04 GMT
#590
MK... how the mighty has fallen. Here's hoping those allegations aren't true and he can get back to the top tier of players.
Gorlin
Profile Joined November 2010
United States2753 Posts
April 14 2015 03:21 GMT
#591
On April 14 2015 07:59 Darkhorse wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 14 2015 05:48 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
On April 14 2015 03:50 Darkhorse wrote:
Mvp
Life
MC
Taeja
Polt
MMA
Nestea
Zest
Inno
Parting


This prediction is extremely reasonable except...

On April 12 2015 04:31 Zealously wrote:
On April 12 2015 04:30 KalWarkov wrote:
i have a problem. i have 12 players left for 10 spots :O

Zest
Nestea
Innovation
sOs
Bomber
Taeja
Polt
Parting
MMA
MC
Life
MVP


Hint: three of those aren't in the Top 10

Mine isn't really a prediction tbh because I know the order and who is actually on the list. This was just my opinion


Curious, why do you put Polt over MMA? I have a bias for MMA I suppose since he's my favorite player, but I think his achievements edge out Polt's pretty handily.

Their GSL wins are of pretty equal quality. IEM Kiev and ASUS ROG are similar. They both have 2 WCS EU/NA wins. MMA's MLG is pretty comparable to Polt's Redbull win. Of the remaining premier wins, MMA has Blizzard Cup, Iron Squid, and Dreamhack Moscow, versus Polt's MLG and recent WCS, which I think is pretty favorable for MMA (in large part due to the Blizzard Cup).

Both with 4 second places, but MMA's are more impressive with a GSL and a Blizzcon in the mix. Both with six 3rd-4th placings of similar quality, but one of MMA's is notably the most recent GSL. That GSL semifinal and the second place at Blizzcon I think especially say a lot about MMA's "greatness".

Both have pretty similar performances in "major tournaments", for what thats worth. And then outside of all of this, you also have MMA's notable team league performances in both ATC (although Polt has not had the opportunity to compete in team leagues like this for a while now) and GSTL, in which he was twice named the Most Valuable Player.
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
April 14 2015 03:29 GMT
#592
On April 14 2015 06:04 Tanzklaue wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 14 2015 05:48 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
On April 14 2015 03:50 Darkhorse wrote:
Mvp
Life
MC
Taeja
Polt
MMA
Nestea
Zest
Inno
Parting


This prediction is extremely reasonable except...

On April 12 2015 04:31 Zealously wrote:
On April 12 2015 04:30 KalWarkov wrote:
i have a problem. i have 12 players left for 10 spots :O

Zest
Nestea
Innovation
sOs
Bomber
Taeja
Polt
Parting
MMA
MC
Life
MVP


Hint: three of those aren't in the Top 10

except that was a joke because the guy had 2 guys extra and sos who is confirmed to be 16th, thus 3 of them are definitely not top 10.


Umm... There's 12 people in that list. If three of those aren't in the top 10, it means someone not on that list is in the top 10. And Darkhorse's list is made up entirely of players in that list.
negativedge
Profile Joined December 2011
4279 Posts
April 14 2015 03:53 GMT
#593
I guess I might as well throw my hat in the prediction ring.

The way I see it, there are 11 clear contenders for 10 spots: Innovation, Rain, Parting, Polt, Nestea, MMA, Life, MVP, Zest, Taeja, MC. Stephano isn't going to be on there. Bomber isn't going to be on there. Dear, Soulkey, CJ hero--not happening (do this a year from now and cj hero would be, I think, but alas). one of those 11 didn't make the top 15 (or top 16, considering we know sOs was in the conversation), the other 10 are your top 10 in some order. if you look purely at results, the most likely to be left out are Innovation, Rain, and Parting. if you value longevity, current form, or top level competition, Nestea could easily be out (and MVP would lose his throne to Life). if you highly value Korean results above all others, MC or Polt could be off the list, and Taeja could be out of the top five. I don't think those things are very likely.

MVP and Life are the clear top two, in some order. Taeja is a lock for the list, and I think he'll be in the top five. I think Innovation's recent GSL title took him off the bubble. with a GSL win, a WCS season finals win, a GSL runner up, and team league dominance on top of his aura of invincibility when he was at his peak, I don't think there's any way to leave him off the list. he's Maru with a higher peak and more results. MMA had a period of time as a dominant player in Korea, and then he had a period of time as a dominant player in Europe. when he came back to Korea and immediately had a top four finish in GSL. I think that pretty much sealed it. he's going to be on the list. I don't think you can make a coherent argument that puts Zest behind s0s, Parting, and Rain, which means he's guaranteed to be on this list.

that brings us down to Polt, MC, Nestea, Rain, and Parting. one of those five is out. it's not going to be MC. his form seems to fluctuate daily, and his Korean results have been nonexistent for three years, but he's still the money champ and it's impossible to write the story of SC2 without him. he's always lurking, and he's done so for five years. there's no chance he's not in the top fifteen. so how do you differentiate between Parting, Rain, Nestea, and Polt? between them, those players basically have nothing in common. Polt has been relevant for almost the entirety of SC2's history, but he only has two Korean finishes of note, and both of them came in 2011. Nestea was the first best player, and his period of dominance was arguably as high as we've seen, including an entire GSL in which he didn't drop a map. but he was only a top player for a year, and he hasn't been relevant for basically three years. Parting doesn't have many tournament wins of note, and the TL staff doesn't seem to like him much, but he's been a top five protoss player for 3 straight years, has at various times been considered the best in the world at all three protoss matchups, and he singlehandedly set the PvT and PvZ metas in different eras. Rain was the first Kespa player to make a name for himself, and has been considered a top protoss player pretty much from his debut to now, but he's also arguably in the worst form of his SC2 career as we speak, and he's basically only won a Hot 6 cup and an uneven OSL that may or may not have actually happened.

I think Polt is in. He's been too good in foreign tournaments for too long, across metas and matchups, with no support system. So we're down to Parting, Rain, and Nestea. If we take Zealously's hint post into consideration, then either Parting or Nestea is out and Rain is in, since I already excluded Bomber and sOs is confirmed for 16th. If it weren't for that post, I think I'd leave Rain out. I don't think there's any meaningful way to compare Parting and Nestea, so I'm just going to say that Parting is out because TL doesn't much like him and he doesn't have the wins to back the skill and influence up.

So we have our ten: MVP, Life, MMA, MC, Innovation, Rain, Zest, Taeja, Nestea, and Polt. MVP and Life are in the top five. Rain isn't. I think Taeja's two GSL semifinal runs in unfavorable conditions are enough to win out over the "but he sucked in Korea!" crowd. his sheer volume of wins and his runs of dominance make the initial argument for him, and his occasional GSL success is enough to keep him there. I put him ahead of MC and Polt, who are the two players you can most easily compare him to. That's two spots left for the top five. I kind of feel like Zest is in there, but can you really put him there when he didn't even qualify for GSL or SSL this past season? He had a sterling record in 2014, but to be top five you need more than that, and so I view those failures to qualify as a pretty big deal. Polt has never been considered the best Terran player in the world. MMA has. Their success is otherwise comparable. Yes, Polt 4-0'd him in the Super Tournament, but MMA was overall the better player that year, and has had more impressive victories to me. I think MMA will be top five. Honestly, I can't come up with a way to determine the fifth spot. It's all about how highly stuichu values those 2011 results. I think Polt has had a better career than MC, but MC has two GSL titles. Nestea beats all competitors for this spot in the dominance-versus-competition-during-peak category, and falls woefully behind in everything else. Zest would be favored over anyone on this list except for Life in a tournament today, and that would be true for any point in the last year. So we'll take a guess.

Final list:

10. Rain
9. Innovation
8. Nestea
7. Zest
6. MC

5. Polt
4. MMA
3. Taeja
2. Life
1. MVP

I'm going to be pissed when this comes out and Bomber is on the list instead of Rain and that costs me everything.
Deathstar
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
9150 Posts
April 14 2015 03:56 GMT
#594
On April 14 2015 09:12 F0rlorn wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 14 2015 01:36 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
Greatest Canadian Players Of All Time

1. HuK
2. Scarlett
3. Testie

Combatex vs parting never forget


Combatex is like top 5 Western Hemisphere player
rip passion
Splynn
Profile Joined September 2011
United States225 Posts
April 14 2015 04:21 GMT
#595
My guess for 10-6 (aka Part 2):

Parting
sOs
Nestea
Zest
Rain

Specifically it's hard to place Nestea for me. There was a time when he was unstoppable, and that time did last for a while. But his skill was never at the level of players nowadays, and he was always overshadowed by MVP (for me, at least), so it's so difficult to figure out where he should actually rank. How much do we weight his results vs. the overall skill level of players at the time? I'm interested to see what stuchiu decides for that (assuming Nestea makes the list at all.)
feanaro
Profile Joined March 2014
United States123 Posts
April 14 2015 04:21 GMT
#596
On April 12 2015 03:36 Zealously wrote:
CAN YOU GUESS THE PLAYERS THAT WILL BE IN PART 2?

I'll buy you 3 months of TL+ if you guess right, 6 if you get the order right


My guesses:
10: PartinG
9: $O$
8: MC
7: Nestea
6: Taeja
5: Polt
4: Zest
3: MMA
2: MVP
1: Life
Packawana
Profile Joined August 2011
United States1081 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-14 06:04:29
April 14 2015 06:04 GMT
#597
Mvp, Nestea, Life, MC and probably MMA/Taeja are the top 5.
"May all your dreaming fill the empty sky."
ETisME
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
12702 Posts
April 14 2015 06:12 GMT
#598
Anyone can explain why is mc ranked so high for you?
其疾如风,其徐如林,侵掠如火,不动如山,难知如阴,动如雷震。
Gwavajuice
Profile Joined June 2014
France1810 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-14 06:27:38
April 14 2015 06:23 GMT
#599
On April 12 2015 03:36 Zealously wrote:
CAN YOU GUESS THE PLAYERS THAT WILL BE IN PART 2?

I'll buy you 3 months of TL+ if you guess right, 6 if you get the order right



10 - sOs
9 - Stephano
8 - MC
7 - Polt MMA
6 - Parting

(5 -INno
4 - Zest
3 - Taeja
2 - Life
1 - MVP)

Although you might squeeze Nestea or Rain somewhere...

Edit : fuck I realized haven't put MMA, what a shame! replacing Polt by MMA then, but I'm not happy... (why the hell did you put MK in this list )
Dear INno and all the former STX boys.
JunkkaGom
Profile Joined August 2010
Korea (South)855 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-14 06:56:34
April 14 2015 06:25 GMT
#600
This was really interesting to read. Thank you for a great article.
If I had my choice, I would put Nestea at the top. The fact he managed to transition into new game and winning GSL without dropping single set at such age makes him worthy

Also I would put BitByBit (kappa)
Workload overwhelming. It is a good day to work
Prev 1 28 29 30 31 32 38 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
PSISTORM Gaming Misc
00:30
FSL s10 retrospective
Liquipedia
OSC
00:00
OSC Elite Rising Star #18
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft449
Nina 161
Codebar 2
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 7476
GuemChi 5410
Zeus 990
Larva 88
sorry 80
Icarus 11
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm120
League of Legends
JimRising 624
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K373
Other Games
C9.Mang0278
PiGStarcraft165
RuFF_SC285
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick825
BasetradeTV76
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH375
• practicex 26
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Rush1221
• Stunt444
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
4h 9m
TriGGeR vs Cure
ByuN vs Rogue
Big Brain Bouts
10h 9m
Replay Cast
18h 9m
RSL Revival
1d 4h
Maru vs MaxPax
BSL
1d 13h
RSL Revival
2 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
BSL
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
The PondCast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
Escore Tournament S2: W1
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.